


Highway to Heaven

by queen_gukkie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, Minor Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Seo Youngho | Johnny, Partying, Road Trips, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-25 00:54:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20023858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_gukkie/pseuds/queen_gukkie
Summary: Taeyong has been hopelessly crushing on straight-boy extraordinaire Jung Jaehyun for way too long. But when Jaehyun invites him on a "BROad Trip" Taeyong begins to wonder if his crush is so hopeless after all.  After all, anything can happen on the highway to heaven.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first NCT work and I'm so excited! I hope y'all like it! A few notes, Taeyong is 22 and in his last year of uni and Jaehyun is 20. Also, Taeyong's hair is pink bcuz I'm whipped for a cherry Taeyong.
> 
> In each of the chapter summaries, I have the song I was listening to when I wrote the chapter, so if you wanna listen along check the summaries. Maybe when I finish I'll make a playlist on Spotify, lmk!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong has some shocking revelations about what went down last night.

_*Beep beep beep beep*_

Taeyong's morning starts uneventfully with the shrill beeping of his alarm. He throws his arm in the general direction of his bedside table in hopes of finding his phone. After blindly groping around for a minute the alarm is starting to get annoying and Taeyong realizes he might just have to open his eyes for this. He opens his eyes slowly, getting accustomed to light filtering through his bedroom window. He makes to get up out of bed when a tan arm is thrown across his chest and a warm body falls on top of his own.

"Taeyooooong-ah," is groggily whispered into his neck "it's too early get up, stay and cuddle with me."

"What the fuck!" Taeyong shouts throwing the arm off of him and rolling the person off of the bed onto the floor.

"Well, that was a little unnecessary."

Taeyong peers over the edge of the bed, ready to see (and potentially attack) whoever it was that shared a bed with him last night. "Ten?!" Taeyong shouts in disbelief.

"Yeah," Ten says grumpily rubbing his bed as he sits up "some way to wish your best friend good morning."

"What the fuck Ten! What are you doing in my bed!" Taeyong looks down at himself and over at his crazy best friend, "and why aren't we wearing any clothes!?"

✧✧✧

"So we didn't have sex?" Taeyong clarifies for the 10th time as Ten and him crowd in his tiny apartment kitchen.

"No." Ten replies calmly as he starts a pot of coffee.

"God, I have the worst headache," Taeyong mutters massaging his temples.

Ten snorts "I'd hope so after you drank the entire bar last night."

"What? What even happened last night? I can't remember anything after we reached the bar."

Ten hands Taeyong a plate of toast and cup of hot coffee, "Well, we reached the club and saw your favorite straight boy, Jung Jaehyun, dancing with a girl, which encouraged you to down four shots of tequila. And just like the skinny little lightweight you are, you were absolutely hammered."

Taeyong nearly chokes on his toast. He really saw Jaehyun last night? Well, that explains the headache at least.

Ten continued, "After destroying your liver, you proceeded to offer me the sagely advice on how to turn a straight boy gay, even though I have a boyfriend and this information is completely useless to me, not to mention I'm smart enough not to pine over straight boys, but anyways, after explaining how to seduce a straight boy in great detail you said you were going to demonstrate. You got on the dance floor platform, pointed to Jaehyun and said 'this one's for you' before pole dancing for around 15 minutes."

"Oh. My. God." Taeyong's headache just got substantially worse "I did that. And where were you during all of this?"

Ten drinks his coffee innocently, "I dragged you off of the stage and took you home to tuck you safely into bed."

"After 15 minutes!"

"Yeah, you were pretty good but after a while, it got boring."

Taeyong facepalms and sips at his coffee. He pole danced for Jung Jaehyun. Famously straight Jung Jaehyun. Drowning in pussy Jung Jaehyun. Probably doesn't even know Taeyong's name Jung Jaehyun. He facepalms again. Taeyong has had a big, gay, crush on Jaehyun for way too long, and even though he knew there was no future for them, Taeyong was not happy to have embarrassed himself like that. Taeyong is drawn out of his self-pity when his roommate Johhny enters the room.

"Hi baby," Ten says wrapping his arms around Johhny's neck and kissing him.

"Good morning" Johnny replies fondly.

"Ugh, do you guys have to be so gross so early in the morning?" Taeyong says shielding his eyes.

"C'mon, you should be happy that two of your best friends are so in love," Ten says clinging onto Johnny like some overgrown koala.

"You're right, what's not to love about having two of your best friends fuck like rabbits in the next room?" Taeyonng says sarcastically, "Plus if you're so in love with your boyfriend why don't you sleep in his room! It's literally a few feet away and then you can leave me alone!"

"But Taeyong, you were drunk and looked lonely! And Johnny doesn't mind, does he? Ten asks his boyfriend cutely.

Johnny shakes his head and grabs a slice of toast.

"Betrayal," Taeyong says glaring at Johnny.

Johnny laughs and munches on his toast contently. He kisses Ten again, "Imma hit the shower ok," before leaving the room.

"Wait for me, I'll join you!" Ten says with a wink.

Taeyong rolls his eyes and gets up to grab the jam from the cupboard. He opens it to find it completely empty. "Ten where's the jam?" He asks looking back at Ten.

Ten smiles sheepishly, "Oh yeah, last night you were pretty drunk...And we passed a convenience store, and I wasn't about to stop you and--"

He's cut off as Johhny shouts from the bathroom "What the fuck, Taeyong, Ten, why is the bathtub filled with jam?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong's math class goes from painful to actual hell when he faces the one man he's been thinking about all weekend.

Two Days. 48 Hours. A lot of minutes and a fuck ton more seconds. It’s been two days and Taeyong still can’t go more than five minutes without remembering how he embarrassed himself on Friday night, and in front of Jung Jaehyun nonetheless. But it’s Monday now which means that hiding in his room is impossible unless he wants to skip class and face the wrath of Professor Tanh. Taeyong swipes that thought from his head quickly and shivers. Professor Tanh was terrifying.

✧✧✧

As Taeyong walks into the lecture hall he immediately wants to walk back out. He's greeted by a fluffy head of warm brown hair and a smile as Jaehyun waves to him. He completely forgot Jaehyun was in this lecture too. Stupid gen-eds. Why did he have to save math for his last year? Taeyong heads for the back of the room and quietly sits down in the corner trying to avoid making eye-contact with Jaehyun. Jaehyun with his perfect face and perfect hair and perfect body. Ugh, Taeyong drops his head on the desk in defeat. Luckily Professor Kim enters the room right away and announces the topic for today's lecture. After 20 minutes Taeyong is completely zoned out and only hearing the occasional words about integrals. Taeyong is jerked out of his stupor when his phone goes off in his lap. He glances down at the screen to see a message from an unknown number.

 _let's grab a coffee after class, u look like u could use it_ ;)

Taeyong looks up in surprise to see none other than Jung fucking Jaehyun smiling at him and holding up his phone. Could Jaehyun be the one who sent the message? How does Jaehyun even have his number? His phones pings again.

_so?_

Taeyong looks up at Jaehyun who's still looking at him. He shoots a quick thumbs up and tries to smile without puking his guts all over the desk. Jaehyun beams back at him and turns back to the board. _Ok, Taeyong. No need to stress. You're just gonna meet Jaehyun after class. To get a coffee, because you look like you need it. Because Jaehyun is looking at you. Totally fine. Just coffee. And a winky face. A WINKY FACE._ Taeyong slams his head on the desk again. How on Earth is he supposed to pay attention now? 

45 minutes of torturous calculus later Taeyong is dreading leaving class. Before he can even leave his seat Jaehyun rushes up to him with a big smile. 

Jaehyun begins rambling immediately "Hey! So there's a Starbucks like 10 minutes away if you want that or there's a Beans & Brews pretty close too and I think there's a Dunkin' too but--" 

Taeyong cuts him off "I'm sorry but how did you get my number?"

"Oh." Taeyong might be reading into it, but Jaehyun looks a little disappointed. "You gave it to me at the bar on Friday, before your friend, Chittaphon, I think dragged you off. I'm not surprised you don't remember, you did seem pretty drunk."

"Wait I gave you my number before Ten dragged me off?"

Jaehyun nods, "Yeah, you kinda grabbed onto me and your friend had to pry you off."

"Oh." Taeyong is sure he is as pink as his hair by now, "I'm sorry for that, I was really drunk."

"No worries!" Jaehyun says with a laugh, "it was pretty funny, you were cute hanging onto me like a little kid." Taeyong's heart just did three backflips. Cute. Jaehyun called him cute. All of sudden Taeyong's knees feel weak. 

"Woah there!" Jaehyun says with a hand on his shoulder to steady him, "You really need that coffee, you're looking really red."

"Yeah," Taeyong says hazily "How about Beans & Brews?"

"Nice, we can use my employee discount!" Jaehyun says leading him out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong gets to know Jaehyun over a cup of coffee on a NOT date.

15 minutes and a short walk later, Taeyong finds himself sitting at a table outside Beans & Brews with Jaehyun, trying to remind himself that this is _NOT_ a date because Jaehyun is straight. But when Jaehyun insisted on paying for his drink because of his employee discount, Taeyong's fantasies started to take over. He couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if he and Jaehyun has come as a couple, what it would be like to hold Jaehyun's hand, to kiss him to--

"You struck me as Cappucino kind of guy," Jaehyun says, effectively pulling Taeyong back to reality.

"Yeah," Taeyong says awkwardly, "I like to let the brew shine." He looks at Jaehyun's pink blended drink with a raised eyebrow.

Jaehyun laughs brightly, "I'm a sucker for sweet stuff, plus, this one matches your hair!" Taeyong blushes and changes the topic.

"So what do you do for fun? I mean if you have time for fun as a STEM major?"

Jaehyun noticeably perks up at this. Taeyong could imagine that if Jaehyun were a puppy, his tail would be wagging. "Oh! I have free time, not nearly enough, but still, when I do, I love to bake! I wasn't joking about liking sweets. I learned how to bake this year and at first, my homies would not stop giving me shit about it, but they tried my cookies and now they're hooked. I mean they still call it gay--" Jaehyun cuts himself off with an awkward cough, "I'm boring you aren't I?"

Taeyong couldn't help and smile at Jaehyun's immediate change in tone. He looked like a puppy with his ears down and tail between his legs. Why did he keep comparing Jaehyun to a puppy? Probably because of Jaehyun's enthusiasm and hyperactive personality. He smiles to himself thinking about it. "No," Taeyong reassures him, "you're not boring me, I like to hear about what people are passionate about."

Jaehyun's reaction is immediate, he continues with a huge grin, "Like how you're passionate about dancing?" Taeyong must've made a face because Jaehyun elaborates, "I've seen you at the studio, you're really amazing! The way you move is so fluid and powerful!."

Taeyong blushes at the praise, "Well, I wouldn't say I'm amazing. But thanks for the compliment, I didn't know anyone was watching. It means a lot that you think I'm so good."

"Of course, hyung!" _Hyung._ That one innocent word had Taeyong's heart beating 100 mph in his chest. _Hyung_ suggests that he and Jaehyun were familiar, that they were friends. _Then again,_ Taeyong thinks, _he probably calls all his friends hyung. Don't let your big gay crush carry you away._

"Was that not ok?" Jaehyun asks with genuine curiosity, "I just assumed since you'er a senior and we're both Korean..."

"It's fine," Taeyong says forcing a smile. Jaehyun beams at him and sips his sickeningly sweet drink. 

"Oh," Jaehyun looks up suddenly, "I didn't even ask if you have class soon! I just dragged you out of math!"

"Don't worry, I haven't got class for another 40 minutes still. Math is my only morning class, I couldn't sit through two lectures that early."

Jaehyun laughs, "I guess even as a senior you don't get used to early mornings."

"Don't let them lie to you," Taeyong says with a faux serious tone, "seniors are just freshman but closer to death." Jaehyun laughs loudly and Taeyong can't help but notice how nice his laugh is. _His laugh is like actual sunshine,_ he thinks, _and his eyes form the most perfect half-moons, he's so cute._ Taeyong has completely zoned out chasing the train of thought when he hears someone shout "Jaehyunnie!" He looks over to see his roommate Johnny and two others walking towards them. 

"Johnny hyung!" Jaehyun calls cheerily, waving Johnny and the others toward them. Johnny and the others, who Taeyong recognizes as Yuta and Taeil, all sit down. "Yuta, Taeil, meet Taeyong! Johnny, you obviously know him." It seems that Johnny just notices Taeyong. 

"Oh, Taeyong." He takes in the scene of Taeyong and Jaehyun sitting with coffees and raises an eyebrow, "I didn't know you and Jaehyun were close."

"We really aren't," Taeyong says sheepishly, struggling to meet Johnny's eyes, "we just stopped for coffee after class."

"Oh, hey!" Yuta suddenly says, "I've seen you around the dance studio before!"

Taeil is the next to speak, he wraps an arm around Jaehyun's shoulders, "So what are you doing alone with Taeyong?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. They all start laughing and Taeyong tries to laugh along, but it dies in his throat. Taeyong suddenly stands up.

"I have to go." Taeyong announces stiffly, "I've got stuff to work on before my next lass." He catches Jaehyun's eye who looks at him sadly. Taeyong quickly turns around and leaves trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. As he's walking away he hears Jaehyun shout to him,

"I'll call you!" Everyone snickers at this.

Yuta jokes, "Yeah he will, Jaehyunnie's not the kinda boy to sleep with someone and not call back!" The whole table bursts out in laughter and Taeyong just walks away faster.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong and Jaehyun start hanging out more and developing a friendship.

Taeyong fights the urge to look back at Jaehyun and his friends. _They're just like that, boys, it's how they talk don't take it personally._ He tells himself, but it's hard not to feel like they are making fun of him for his crush on Jaehyun. And if Jaehyun's friends knew, did Jaehyun know as well? Taeyong's stomach drops with the thought that maybe Jaehyun only took him to coffee today to humor his crush, or worse, something sinister. _But Jaehyun's not like that,_ Taeyong tries to convince himself, _Don't sentence him for no reason._ After a few minutes, Taeyong's back at his apartment and sits in his couch to relax for a bit before his next class. He opens his phone ready to scroll mindlessly through Instagram when he notices a missed call and some messages--

_Missed Call from Jung Jaehyun_

_Jaehyun: hey sry u had to leave so last minute_

_Jaehyun: do u wanna hang out again sometime this week, i really liked talking to u so lmk_

Taeyong throws his phone across the couch and sighs. Jaehyun was sending such mixed messages. But some small part of Taeyong was so eager to see Jaehyun again, that small part was getting too hopeful. Unfortunately, that part of his brain has the most control over his thumbs and he finds himself texting back.

_Me: Sure_

_Jaehyun: :)_

✧✧✧

Two weeks and several NOT dates later, Taeyong, dare he say it, is friends with Jaehyun. And his crush has only gotten worse. Even Ten has started to take notice, confronting Taeyong one morning over breakfast. 

"So...you're dating Jung Jaehyun now?" Ten says suddenly.

Taeyong nearly spits out his coffee. He splutters "What- pshh- no- dating-- no," Ten raises an eyebrow at him, "We're not dating, we're just friends."

"Really? I see you two walking to class together and getting coffee, and since you're literally head over heels for him, I just assumed."

"No, he doesn't see me like that. He's straight for god's sake, there's no way he'd ever see me like that." Taeyong is trying his best not to get frustrated, but saying it out loud he's realizing that he really has no chance with Jaehyun.

"Well he does talk about you a lot," Ten says putting his mug in the sink and heading for the door, "Johnny told me, he never shuts up about you. Tell Johnny I had to leave, byeeee!" Suddenly Taeyong is left with nothing but a closed door, and the knowledge that Jaehyun talks about him. He can't help but smile to himself.

"Dude what are you smiling about?" Johnny says rubbing his eyes as he takes in the sight of Taeyong's goofy smile, "It's way too early to be that happy." 

Taeyong just smiles wider. Jaehyun _talks_ about him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OML I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this out! I promise I'm not abandoning Highway to Heaven, I've just been camping for the last two weeks and had no WiFi to post chapters :( But I promise we're back to daily updates for the rest of this fic


End file.
